Redefine
by The Forbidden Secrets
Summary: Oneshot: Nathan/Charles. Charles was different then most managers and to Nathan, Charles meant more to him then to the rest of the band combined. The CFO just needed to know.


Title: Redefine  
Rating: PG  
Paring: N/C  
Author: Kurai_and_Kail aka TheForbiddenSecrets  
Word Count: 1010  
Disclaimer: Don't Own

The sound of heavy foot falls outside his office caught Charles's attention long before the door swung open without so much as a half assed knock. Glancing up he leant back in his chair, eyes trained on the lead who decided that four A.M. was a perfectly acceptable time to bother him, the fact that he had already been awake and doing paper work notwithstanding. Keeping track of the boy's assets took a lot of work, after all, and it wasn't as if any of them were about to start doing it.

Regardless, the man simply waited for Nathan to speak up, giving his full attention to the singer. None of the boys came to him willingly very often but when they did it was usually something important to them, even if it seemed completely inane to the average person. After a few minutes crawled by with Nathan sort of just standing in his doorway like a child lost on a concert hall Charles became somewhat concerned. The only thing the boys weren't up front and demanding about tended to be their emotions.

From experience, emotional problems in the band never equaled something good.

Sitting forward, arms resting on his desk, the CFO did his best to appear neutral, concern another thing he had schooled away after coming to work for Dethklok. "Is there something you needed Nathan?" Causal, uninterested phrasing. People he had known once (back when he had known _people_ and not statistics and threats that must be accounted for with near obsessive proficiency) claimed that he had changed, that he had let the dark lyrics of Dethklok seep through his mind like toxic mist and strip him of the care he had once had for others. That, of course, was absolute rot in his opinion. What was more caring then changing the entire way you expressed yourself for the singular purpose of being more available to the people you had chosen to watch over? That was, however, neither here nor there.

The silence in the office stretched on for a few moments more before Nathan finally dragged his gaze over to the man that had spoken, shoulders hunched like he was in the last place he wanted to be at the moment. "You… busy?" Green eyes roamed over the neatly stacked paperwork with trepidation. It was easy to forget at times that the only reason he was able to completely disregard the basic skills of life even down to how to make food was because their manager worked so hard to do everything else for them. Other times when they did manage to remember though it always led to rather uncomfortable arguments on the topic.

"Not particularly." Charles made it a habit of his not to pry into matters that 'actually' didn't concern him (not that there were many on those matters around Mordhaus) but it didn't mean he wasn't curious. "Something the matter?"

"Uh well, Pickels was being a dick and watching some show, about, erm Family. Or something else not metal. But it was odd…" Nathan floundered a moment, trying to piece together exactly why he had been bothered by the retina burning images on the screen. "She was really busy all the time. She had to make sure that all the crap was done and the bills and food and… making sure they were okay." The dark haired lead looked distinctly uncomfortable with the entire topic. "That's how moms usually act right? Mines close… I guess, but…" But not all of them had anywhere near a cookie cutter mother was loud and clear despite being left unsaid.

A bit lost on when having a normal family had become important to any of the boy's outside possibly Toki, Charles nodded carefully. "That's the usual family archetype, yes."

Nathan hesitated, large hands tightening and loosening before crossing defensively over his chest. "That's what _you_ do. The mom… stuff. I mean, that's how moms are, but that's how you act so you're like our mom or something."

Charles sat up straight, not having expected the conversation to have turned back around at him. He supposed 'mother' was a step up from 'robot', if mildly degrading to his masculinity. "I wasn't aware you understood Hypothetical Syllogism Nathan."

"Uh… _Damn_, you 'know' I don't know what that means." Finally walking up the CFO's desk Nathan leaned down, black hair brushing against the wood as he invaded the older man's personal space. "You are _**not**_ my mom."

The low aggressive growl in his direction startled the smaller brunette, not used to Nathan's ire being directed towards him as a person. Before he could string together the words to apologize for whatever he had done (or at least paint out meaningless words to appease the boy, because the last thing he was going to do was actually stop taking care of the boys) his face was roughly grabbed by a large hand and yanked upwards. His eyes widened for a brief moment, his instinct to attack warring with his desire to keep Nathan 'away' from harm, before they shuttered closed when rough lips smashed against his own. The kiss was entirely too long to be accidental and much to brief to be anything but a near violent wisp across his memory.

Fixing his glasses that has skewed sideways in the collision Charles looked up at his lead singer, a rare open expression of questioning across his features. His face was still being held tight by Nathan's hand and as the seconds stretched by in silence the grip steadily grew tighter. "Nathan?"

"You're not like my mom. It's different… and, and not just because you're a guy or anything because that's just stupid we all know that."

The manager chuckled despite still being a little off kilter, "Baring some new form of Oedipus Complex I'd think not." Receiving a glare for his laughter (or for the classical reference) Charles's smile faded into a faint grin, one hand coming up to brush his fingers against the one holding his head in place. "I understand."


End file.
